St. Simons Island, GA

EAA Chapter 905

In the summer of 2016, Bill Walker, owner of Golden Isles Aviation and Project Organizer, approached the membership of the Paul Redfern, EAA Chapter 905, located on St. Simons Island, Georgia, to see if they would take on the restoration of Barney Oldfield's historic Baby Lakes airplane. The plane, Serial Number 2, was first designed in 1950 and was built by Barney Oldfield himself in 1960. It is a "scaled down" version of the Great Lakes Sports Trainer.

In the 60's, Barney thrilled crowds with his aerobatic performances in this airplane throughout the mid-west. The plane ended up as a static display in the Western North Carolina Aviation Museum.

Bill Walker was building a new FBO at McKinnon Airport (KSSI) and wanted to display this plane in the lobby of this new facility. The restoration, led by Steve Gray, EAA #9018830, was completed in about 6 months due to the team of 36 Chapter 905 EAA members who worked on the project.

The restored Baby Lakes now hangs proudly from the ceiling in the new Golden Isles Aviation facility at McKinnon Airport. It is on loan from the Western North Carolina Aviation Museum.